Petition launched to defend integrity of Times titles after Murdoch bids to weaken checks on owner interference at The Times and Sunday Times.﻿

When Rupert Murdoch first purchased The Times and Sunday Times there were specific conditions designed to prevent editorial interference from the owners.

Now News UK is seeking to amend these conditions, which risks undermining this editorial independence which is absolutely vital in maintaining public faith in UK journalism and allowing journalists to do their jobs at Times titles.

Today, Hacked Off have launched a petition to urge the Government to reject the Murdochs’ attempt to water down the locks on editorial independence agreed to when the newspapers were first purchased.

“The Times and Sunday Times are important newspapers. Their investigative journalism has been highly commendable.

“However, under the ownership of the Murdochs, The Times and Sunday Times’ editorial independence has been repeatedly called into question. The phone hacking scandal and resulting court cases exposed an utter disregard for corporate governance standards at the similarly Murdoch-owned title News of The World.

“To protect the editorial integrity of The Times and The Sunday Times, Hacked Off call on the Government to reject any Murdoch bid to weaken the guarantees set out to prevent publisher interference in The Times or Sunday Times newspapers.”

*Update*

Hacked Off research shows that by fiddling with ANY of the conditions on The Times’ deal, ALL of them lose effectiveness – even those which go to the heart of independence from the Murdochs.

Hacked Off is the campaign for a free and accountable press, and we work with the victims of press abuse to achieve those aims.

Petition text:

Dear Secretary of State,

The Times and Sunday Times are important newspapers. But under the ownership of the Murdochs the titles’ editorial independence has been repeatedly called into question, while the phone hacking scandal and resulting court cases at News of the World have exposed the Murdochs as having no proper regard for good corporate governance.

This application would only serve to waterdown the 1981 conditions, by effectively weakening the protections put in place to keep the two newspapers distinct. It would also pave the way for a decline in standards and quality, with the two titles able to cut costs by rationing out services and resources between them. It is bad for the integrity of the two titles and it is bad for journalism.

To protect the editorial integrity of The Times and The Sunday Times, we the undersigned call on the Government to reject this bid to amend the Conditions agreed in 1981.

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